Nick Jones and Nico Menzel put on a superb attacking performance during last weekend’s Michelin Le Mans Cup race at Spa-Francorchamps, with only unlucky contact denying the duo what would otherwise have been a sure-fire podium finish.
The #18 Team SD-backed High Class Racing Porsche had just snatched third place when driver Menzel was tagged entering the Les Combes chicane inside the final 20 minutes. Menzel did superbly to catch the resulting high-speed spin and continue, putting on one final late charge to recover to a fine fourth at the flag.
Menzel’s late surge was preceded by a brilliant display from Jones, who went on an overtaking spree during the race’s first half to help the car climb from the back of the grid after it was hit with a grid penalty.
Any race weekend at Spa is never easy, and the odds began to stack up against the #18 crew right from the start. Despite a positive pre-event test where Jones and Menzel topped the class times, a gearbox oil leak prevented the car from taking part in opening practice on Friday. The High Class team worked hard to rectify the issue and Jones showed promising pace during both the Bronze Test and second practice. However, with the car down on miles, the team chose to give Jones the majority of the running during FP2. Menzel was due to complete his mandatory laps at the end of the session, but with a red flag cutting the session short, he never got the chance.
This resulted in a penalty that would drop the car to the tail of the field for the race, regardless of where it would qualify. For what it was worth, Jones was eighth fastest in the session, only for the Porsche to be dumped to the back.
Undeterred, Jones took the start of the 110-minute race in fighting mood and made swift progress. First, he negotiated a multi-car tangle at turn one successfully to move up to ninth. Then, following the resulting safety car period to clear the track, Jones picked off the string of the #12 Kessell Racing Ferrari, Blackthorn Aston Martin and the Biogas Ferrari to run an impressive sixth when the pit window opened and he could relay Menzel.
With the German ace installed, the car rejoined in sixth but with formidable forward momentum. Menzel lit up the timing screens and soon closed to within striking distance of the Herberth Porsche, dispatching the similar car on lap 21. Next to fall to Menzel’s charge was the Steller Motorsport Audi that had led the opening half of the race, with Menzel drafting past on the Kemmel Straight before making the move stick into Les Combes.
With just over half-an-hour to go, Menzel ran seven seconds behind the Iron Dames Lamborghini that held the final podium spot, and set about closing the gap. His cause was aided when another safety car was called after High Class Racing’s own LMP3 came to grief at Les Combes. On the restart, Menzel clung to the rear of the rival Lamborghini, but his first effort to pass was denied by lapping LMP3 cars getting between himself and the Huracan. Menzel recovered the ground and got a tow on the Lambo on the Kemmel inside the final 10 minutes. However, as Menzel moved past and resumed the racing line for Les Combes, he was tagged at the apex as he turned in by an impatient LMP3 car, which turned the Porsche around and the podium was gone.
Menzel recovered to run fifth, and one last safety car bunched the pack and presented one final chance to attack. With just two laps to run, Menzel managed to clear the Herberth Porsche once again to snatch fourth, falling just one second shy of the #74 Kessel Ferrari that eventually finished in third. Menzel also finished the race with the second-fastest lap, ramming home the potential of the SD-backed Porsche GT3.
Regardless, fourth represented a strong points haul for Jones, moving him to joint fourth in the GT3 Drivers’ Championship.
Nick Jones said: “It was a race of what could have been really. On our performance we 100% should have been on the podium here, but it just wasn’t to be. Things got tough at the start with missing FP1, and then the red flag meaning Nico didn’t get to do his laps during FP2 so we had to start from the back. I concentrated on keeping things clean and simply doing the best I could do across the first half. I took all my chances and the car felt great so we got back into the mix. Nico did a great job and has been a pleasure to work with all weekend. He’s been super quick and watching him attack was great. We just got so unlucky with the hit from the LMP3, there was nothing Nico could have done. Fourth at the finish was the result, but not really the limit today, which is a shame. But we take it and move on.”
Nico Menzel said: “I had great fun this weekend and I want to say a big thanks to Nick and the team at High Class Racing. We had a really quick car this weekend, perhaps even the quickest of all the GT3s, but we just didn’t get the luck to really maximise it, which is a shame. Missing FP1 was tough, and then the red flag in FP2 cost me the chance to do my mandatory three laps so we had to start at the back. From there though we basically came through the whole field. The top two were sent clear by the safety car, so there was nothing we could do about that but P3 was the least we deserved. I had just got us there when I got taken out… but that’s racing! Nick did a great job all weekend and improved a lot, doing his fastest laps ever round Spa, which was great to see. Sven [Müller] will be back in the car next time, and I have no doubt the team can get the podium, if not the win.”
The next round of the Michelin Le Mans Cup takes place at Mugello in Italy over September 27/28.
